Aquaphobia
by Kanan
Summary: Ryo has had some bad experiences with water... and lately, he's been a little on edge about it! Can the others help him overcome his fears, or will he be swept away with the tide?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ronin Warriors. yawn I'm tired… ZzZzZzZzZzZzZ

Aquaphobia

Ryo ran water for his bath. Ryo, the warrior of wildfire… didn't like water very much. He didn't min bathing and feeling clean, but it brought back bad memories. As he sat on the edge of the tub with one of his hands under the faucet and waited for the water to heat up, a memory came back to him.

He was very little, no more than six years old, and he was playing near a pond. This was a little while after his dad had met White Blaze, and allowed Ryo to keep him. Said man was sitting on a rock thirty feet from the water as he organized photos he had taken from his last trip. He knew he would have to leave again soon, and he wanted to spend that time he had home with his son, which he promised to do after he organized those.

Ryo didn't mind. He was just happy to have his dad home, and to have White Blaze with him. The tiger lay on the bank of the pond and watched as Ryo grabbed up a large pile of rocks and threw them in. The little ronin was very happy to see the splashes, and ran around trying to get more rocks. He picked one up and then another, heading towards the old dock. White Blaze kept a close watch on the boy, for he knew the dock was old and the wood was nearly rotten. Something bad could happen.

Little Ryo had reached the start of the dock and was about to turn around and go back to play until he saw a shiny thing at the very end of the dock. He stared at it for a while, marveling in how the sun glistened off of it. He had to have it. Dropping the rocks, the energetic boy ran out onto the wooden dock with his hands outstretched. He wanted the shiny object, whatever it was, and he kept thinking of what he would do with it. He could bury it in the yard, or put it in a box and play pirates, or maybe he would give it to his dad. Ryo decided to go with that one, although the pirate idea still thrilled him.

He was so preoccupied with trying to figure out what to do with the shiny object that he didn't notice a weak spot in the wood only inches from where he was. White Blaze saw it, and he was already up and going that way when Ryo stepped on the spot. The old wood made a sickly sounding crack and Ryo feel through and into the cold water below. His dad had heard the crack, and not knowing what it was, looked around. He didn't see Ryo. All he saw was the white tiger diving off the dock and into the water. Fearing the worst, he dropped his photos and ran there, also.

Ryo didn't know what was going on, until the chill of the icy water stung at his skin. It felt like a thousand needles were poking him, and he tried to yell. His air left him and he now had a mouth full of water, as he tried to breathe in. For some reason, his body was even less used to the cold than normal, and since he didn't know how to swim, he just kept sinking. His eyes blurred, not that he was able to see anything in the dark depths of the lake, anyway, and he began to feel darkness pulling at his mind when suddenly, something swam past him. Something furry.

Ryo unconsciously grabbed onto the fur that was slowly pushing him towards the surface, and just before he passed out, he broke through. Ryo's dad froze as he saw White Blaze come up out of the water with Ryo on hi back. He ran into the water on the bank and took the child from the tiger. Ryo was shivering very badly, and so his dad wrapped him up in his coat and ran him to their cozy little cabin.

A doctor came to check on Ryo, and they left the room after the examination so they could talk. Ryo was still shivering, even though the fireplace was lit and he was covered by nearly all the blankets they had. Still, it wasn't enough. He struggled to remain conscious, but the cold of the lake was coming back to him, and he whimpered. His dad didn't hear him, but his loyal friend did. White Blaze sat beside the bed and nuzzled his master's shivering form. The more he did this, the more Ryo felt calm. There was warmth coming from the tiger, and so Ryo pushed off the blankets and climbed off the bed. He didn't make two steps before his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor. He was crying, but still, his dad didn't hear.

That's when White Blaze laid down close to Ryo, and hugged him to him with his paws. Soon, Ryo felt warmer and he wasn't as cold. The tigers loud purring was lulling him into calmness, and the boy have fallen asleep, had his dad not burst in and awoken him. Quickly, he was picked up and away from the tiger's warmth. His dad followed the doctor out the door, but Ryo reached out his hands and called for White Blaze, who tried to follow. They got outside, and it was colder. Ryo longed for the warmth he had received from the animal, but his dad told White Blaze to stay as he carried Ryo into his car.

Sadly, Ryo had to spend three weeks in the hospital to recover from Pneumonia. When he got out, all he wanted was White Blaze. He slept outside or on the living room rug with the tiger for three weeks after he returned, and he never got sick.

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the bathroom door. Ryo jolted and turned towards the door.

"Y-yes?"

"Well, it's about time you answered! I have been knocking out here for nearly five minutes!"

"Sorry, Cye…"

Ryo got up form the tub's edge and opened the door. Cye was standing there, polite as ever. The Brit. then held out a red towel for Ryo.

"Oh, thanks! I had completely forgotten about bringing one…"

"You've been spacey lately, Ryo. You need to get it together."

"Yeah, I guess so… Maybe I've just been anxious with all the battles happening."

"I know what you mean. But we beat them pretty good last time, so they probably wont surface for a while. It's nice to have a break!"

Ryo tilted his head and smiled.

"Thanks for the towel, Cye."

"No problem. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thank you."

"Okay, enjoy your bath!"

Cye waved and walked on down the hall. Ryo waved to the ronin's back and disappeared back into the bathroom. He stopped in front of the tub again with a blank look upon his face. He wondered why that memory had surfaced so suddenly. The tub was a bit more full than he had expected to make it, so he turned the water off. Dipping one of his hands below the surface, he was delighted to know that it was still scorching hot, like he likes it. This made him smile. Taking off his shirt and the rest of his clothes, he slowly slipped in.

The hot water made his skin tingle a little, but after a moment, he settled into it, and his body absorbed the heat as he always did. Ryo placed a cold cloth over his eyes and tried to relax his sore muscles, as well as a healing injury on his side, but every time he thought he would relax, the memories came back to him. Why was he thinking about it? He really didn't have a problem with it, but it was also his opposite element. Whether that pertained to his armor or just his normal self, he wasn't sure. He never had a lot of good memories about the water. That was one reason he liked his showers and baths to be so hot. It made him feel as though he were bathing in lava, rather than water.

Ryo thought of the warm magma from where his armor was made, and drew its power. Thinking about that made Ryo very calm, and he closed his eyes and his head dipped below the surface. The cloth lay floating along, forgotten.

When Ryo opened his eyes next, he was met with absolute darkness for a minute. The water stung his eyes, as if he was underwater in a salt-water environment. When his eyes focussed, he was. The water around him pulled from all sides, and Ryo recognized it as the area where they had found Cye at the beginning of the dynasty battle. He looked around, as if thinking he would find the water bearer still lying there in a death-like sleep. He looked, but Cye wasn't there. So, he swam, and swam, and swam. Still, there was nothing.

Soon, his whole body began to sting and burn, and a dark poison began to activate from his healing wounds and the scars in his armor. When Ryo could ignore the pain no more, he stopped trying to fight the whirlpools and let himself be pulled into the rough current. It dragged the hurting ronin down, deep into the water in the harbor, and the further down he was pulled, the more the pressure on his already battered body began to affect him. He was too deep to see the light of the sky, and he gave up, letting out his air.

Ryo resigned, and let himself fall into darkness. There, he waited for what seemed like an eternity, until a worried voice tried to call him back into the world of the living. Ryo tried to ignore it, as the warmth of darkness soothed him, but then a cold, wet hand started to pat his tender cheek. Aside from that, he was lying on a cold surface, and his side wound had flared up again. The raven-haired leader coughed, releasing water from his mouth, and finally opened his eyes to see, not the harbor, but a white ceiling and four worried faces looking down at him. Feeling tired, Ryo closed his eyes again, and this time, a warm, fuzzy creature nuzzled his face, making him awaken again. He found himself reaching up to scratch behind White Blaze's ears before he knew what was going on. Again, the voice spoke.

"Ryo… can you hear me?"

"…Sage?"

The blonde helped Ryo sit up a little, supported by his leg, and Ryo put a hand to his head. At that time, Sage reached back and a small flashlight was handed to him.

"Look this way, Ryo."

Ryo looked at Sage, and immediately regretted it as the light was shone right into his eyes. He resisted the urge to close them, as he didn't know exactly what was going on. Sage looked into both of his eyes with his light and then handed it back to Rowen. Cye was kneeling beside Sage and him now, and the light-haired boy reached a hand out to stroke Ryo's cheek. Somehow, the gesture made Ryo close his eyes again and he let out a very quiet purr. Sage shook him awake.

"Ryo. Hey!"

"What is it…? What's going on you guys? And…"

Ryo suddenly came to a startling conclusion.

"A-and where are my clothes?"

Ryo blushed, as the only thing covering his lower half was his red towel. He didn't understand it.

"How do you feel?"

"Um… fine, I guess. Why?"

"Ryo, you nearly drowned in the bathtub."

"Yeah! If Sage hadn't taken that CPR course, you would have been history!"

"Seriously! Geeze… I had no idea!"

"Glad to hear it wasn't intentional."

"Of course it wasn't!"

The sad looks he was receiving weren't supportive. He threw each one of them a sort of scowl. (Though, a part of him was happy Sage was able to bring him back, that same fact made him want to scream and blush like mad.)

"Look, I'm serious! I love my life! I'd never just try to end it, and if I did, it wouldn't be in a stupid bathtub, okay?"

That seemed to convince them, somewhat.

"So, what happened then?"

"Well, the water was warm and comforting… I guess I must have drifted off."

He saw Cye shake his head with a small smile on his face.

"When I told you to relax, this wasn't exactly what I meant…"

Cye let out a noise like a forced laugh, and Kento set a hand on his best friend's shoulder. Cye must have been scared out of his mind when he found Ryo submerged in the bath and not breathing. Ryo then reached out his hand and patted his friend's hand.

"Hey, I'm sorry, you guys. I promise it wont happen again."

"It had better not!"

Sage helped Ryo up and the others closed their eyes as Ryo pulled the towel around himself.

"Now, mind giving me some privacy so I can get dressed?"

"I dunno… you might try something! Do you need any help there?"

Ryo was used to those kinds of jokes. They often spoke to each other like that when one of them does something silly. Ryo mock glared and waved his fist in the air.

"That's quite enough of that! Leave, already!"

"Oh, no! Wildfire is gonna get us!"

Cye and Kento ran out, jokingly. Rowen and Sage did the same, after making more jokes. Ryo waved his hand about again.

"Go on! Git!"

When he finally had some privacy, Ryo closed the door again and sat on the floor, oddly tired. Some small laughs escaped his throat, but then died down. He nearly drowned… Now he was indebted to Sage for life… When he heard the door creaking open, he looked up to see White Blaze coming towards him. The tiger looked especially worried. He remembered one of the first times Ryo nearly drowned. Ryo gave his friend a smile and pulled him to him for a hug.

"It's all right, boy… I'm all right…"


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Ryo slept in late. That was not like him, but Sage reassured the others that he was fine. It was summer, and a hot one at that. Rowen sat in front of the TV fanning himself as he watched in horror as the weatherman rambled on about the beautiful weather and how much hotter it's expected to get. Rowen groaned and fanned harder.

Cye and Kento were in the kitchen. Kento was quickly downing another glass of ice water, and Cye was kneeling in front of the open refrigerator, flapping his shirt open so it wouldn't stick to his chest by his sweat.

"My goodness… this heat is the worst!"

"No kidding. I don't see how Ryo can sleep through it all. Well, okay; maybe I can."

Cye let out a heavy sigh and half climbed into the fridge where it was decently cool. He stayed there for a while, until his friend tapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on, Cye… at this rate, all the food will go bad!"

Cye groaned, not moving.

"We can buy more food, then. I'm just to hot to move right now…"

Kento sighed and set his glass down, then proceeded to haul Cye out of the fridge. From the living room, Rowen moaned.

"They say this heat will get worse within hours!"

Cye lifted his head and groaned, letting it fall down to his chest. He was sweating more now, and he barely had the strength to move. Kento led his dehydrated friend into the living room, where Rowen had just shut the TV off and tossed the remote on the table. Cye sat down on the cough, but it was too warm, so he slumped down and stretched out on the floor.

"It's too hot… I can't move!"

Sage looked up from the morning paper and stared at Cye. Out of all of them, Cye was the most sensitive to the heat. How ironic it was that he and Ryo were such good friends. Sage, himself was trying to keep cool by sitting in the moving fan's path, on the window seat and with no shirt on.

"Hey, man… why don't I go throw you in the lake? That'll help ya cool off!"

"Yeah, but then who'll throw YOU in, Kento?"

Despite the heat, Rowen had enough energy to crack a joke or two. Kento slumped in the armchair.

"I'll walk in, run in, or jump in… I don't care if the water's a little dirty! I just want to cool down!"

"Unfortunately…"

Cye began.

"That lake soaks up heat like you wouldn't believe. It's probably boiling by now!"

"Aw, man…"

Sage stared down at his paper for a while, but he hadn't been able to focus on anything on the page since he had picked it up. Then, a smile came to his face.

"What about the beach?"

All heads went up, and Cye immediately went into a sitting position, smiling like he had just won the lottery.

"Are you serious?"

"Sure. It's warm enough, and the water in the ocean is always cold. It's perfect!"

"yes, yes, ye-"

"But we still have a problem."

Everyone looked at Rowen, and Cye stopped doing his happy dance. Rowen pointed upwards, where Ryo's room was located. All hopes fell.

"Someone has to convince our leader to let us go."

"And if we go, he should go, too."

"But considering his accident the other day, he may be reluctant to get in the water with us."

"But, all we need is his permission, right? He doesn't have to swim, but he can get a tan or something instead!"

"True…"

"Okay, then I volunteer!"

"You seem pretty energetic for someone who could barely lift their head a moment ago."

Sage shook his head, noticing that Cye was already halfway up the stairs.

"But this is about the BEACH!"

Then, he disappeared up the staircase.

In his room, Ryo had just awoken from the same dream he had been having since a few days ago. The lake, White Blaze… It felt a little warmer than usual, but it was a comforting kind of warmth. He curled back up in his blanket and threw an arm to the other side of the bed. It was empty. Ryo propped himself up at feeling the cold emptiness where Mia had been when he fell asleep. Sighing, he suddenly remembered that she had to be at the university early that morning. Oh well, he thought. He was about to fall back asleep when he heard a small noise. He opened an eye to see two sea green orbs staring at him from just over the edge of the bed. Ryo stared tiredly at them for a moment before yawning and sitting up in his bed. He rubbed his eyes.

"Good morning, Cye."

The other smiled and got up from the floor. Ryo was rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and then he felt the bed lower ever so slightly as Cye sat on the end of it.

"What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, really."

Ryo noticed how fatigued Cye looked, and only then did he notice the heat seemed worse than it had been in a while.

"Wow, it looks really hot outside today. What temperature is it?"

"It's just reaching the hundreds now."

"Wow, that's warm! What a pretty day…"

Ryo turned back to his friend with a sympathetic smile.

"Too bad it's so hard on you and the others."

"Yes, well, that's why I came up here. We were talking, and…"

"Yes?"

"Well, we'd like to take a small trip."

Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"Go on…"

"Well… since it's such a nice day, and we're all overheating, we thought about…"

"Yes?"

"The beach?"

That got his attention. Ryo sighed and looked out from his balcony. It was hot, which didn't bother him, and he was reluctant to leave the house in order to go to a place with cold water. However, he thought about how the others must be feeling. Turning back t Cye, Ryo nodded.

"Okay… we can go to the beach."

"Oh, yay!"

Cye leaned over and hugged his friend, who laughed and tried to push him away. When Cye wants to latch onto someone, it would take 50 weightlifters and a pry bar to get him loose. Still, Ryo appreciated the gesture, and waited until the grip around his neck was loosened to pat Cye on the head. The other leaned back and smiled before getting off the bed and padding his way out of the room. Ryo sat up and listened as his friend quietly walked to the staircase, and then ran down it shouting with joy.

"We're going! We're going!"

Ryo could not help but laugh. He was happy to have made his friend happy, but as he turned back to look out the window, a feeling of uneasiness swept over him.


End file.
